National Storage in $90m Investec Deal
Investec Bank (Australia) Limited and Queensland-headquartered National Storage have agreed on a $90million deal in which the Investec Property Opportunity Fund (IPOF) will acquire 11 storage centres currently leased by National Storage in South East Queensland, Sydney, Perth and Hobart.
It paves the way for new expansion of National Storage properties at Currumbin, Nerang, Cannon Hill and Browns Plains.
Six of the properties have been acquired from the APN National Storage Trust and five from entities in the National Storage Group. The 11 properties, which are already successfully operated as storage centres by National Storage, will continue to be leased back to the group on a trip net lease basis.
The deal provides IPOF with over 41,000spm of dedicated storage space across the centres being acquired. National Storage is expanding seven of the acquired properties. Investc's Graeme Katz said the redevelopment of these properties would add a further 13,500spm of storage accommodation.
"This deal - funded by a mix of debt and equity - brins an immediate and regular income to the fund," Mr Katz said. "It provides growth through redevelopment, and it also increases the fund's geographic and asset class diversification."
The acquired storage centres in Currumbin, Nerang, Cannon HIll and Browns Plains are earmarked fro expansion. Director of acquisitions and developments at National Storage, Andrew Catsoulis, said societal shifts and shrinking living spaces has seen self-storage become one of Australia's fastest-growing industries, generating around $300m a year.
